Harry Potter and the Tiger's Curse
by NyxDragonBorne
Summary: Ren/Kishan/Fem!Harry Potter's life sucked, period. Her soul had been relegated to dementor chow because the people she had trusted and fought for had betrayed her. All she wanted now was to rest in peace with her loved ones, but even that, it seems, is too much to ask. Now she is in a different Universe, hoping to live a peaceful life(pfft as if)DeathHasDaughterComplexForMOD!Harry
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer(for this and all following chapters): I own nothing, this is not for profit.

Warning: Will eventually have explicit sexual content. Will have instances of Gore/Violence.

Unbeta'd

Harriet Potter's life sucked, period. Sure it had started out well enough, loving parents, caring uncles, being well fed, and happy. That's pretty much the only thing that had ever gone well for her. Her parents murdered, her uncles unable to take her due to illegal imprisonment and prejudicial behaviors towards werewolves. Being left out on the porch during a cold November night. Being placed in the care of her 'loving' relatives. Not knowing her name until she attended primary school. Basically being brought up a slave. Finding out she's a witch and her relations had lied to her.

The wizarding world treating her like a messiah when she was still trying to get used to being considered worth more than the dirt under her relative's boots. The potions professor outright hating her and abusing his position of authority to bully her. Being attacked by a troll. Being sent into the forbidden forest and forced to watch a unicorn die. Almost being eaten by a three-headed dog, twice. Facing the shade of Voldemort.

Her relatives upping their corporal punishments after finding out she couldn't perform magic at home. Dobby being a menace. Crashing into the whomping willow. Her bones being vanished altogether from her arm by an incompetent farce of a teacher. Being persecuted for speaking a language she hadn't known she could speak. Facing a horde of acromantula, then a basilisk and a Horcrux. Being bitten by said basilisk and then having the whole thing swept under the rug while the whole school pretends that they didn't completely ostracize her.

Marge being a bitch. Having her soul almost sucked out of her on three separate occasions. The emotional turmoil that was Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew's reveal. Dealing with a werewolf and then being completely ignored by the minister of magic. Death Eater's attacking the world cup. The dreams, and being forced into the TWT. Nesting merlin-be-damned dragons. The fiasco that was the Yule ball, as her date ended up standing her up. Mer.

The unnecessary death of Cedric Diggory(who she might have had a minor crush on at the time), and the revival of Voldemort. Being placed under the cruciatus. Not being believed upon her miraculous escape. Almost having her soul snatched again for the fourth time. Being outright tortured with a blood quill by Dolores Umbitch. Sirius dying. Being possessed by Voldemort. Facing Inferi in the cave of wonders as per Voldemort. Realizing the entire wizarding world was pronouncing Voldemort wrong as it is a pseudonym derived from a handful of French words with the pronunciation actually being Vol-de-mor. Actually, that one had been kinda funny.

Pretty much all of what was supposed to be her seventh year. Dying. Beating Voldemort only to be vilified by the wizarding world including her supposed best friends Weasley and Granger. Actually getting her soul sucked out. Now that hadn't actually been too bad, but that might've been because of her current situation. Sitting in front of a rather mercurial Death. Apparently, Death hadn't been planning on anyone meeting the requirements of becoming the master of death. Y'Know 'cause of the whole willingly accepting death kinda contradicts searching out the Hallows to become immortal.

Then when she'd said she was by no means interested in being master of death, and asking for the afterlife, death being mad because of her unfulfilling life as a used and broken tool/slave. So it came to no surprise to Harriett that Death had decided she would be replacing the body of a recently deceased individual, and the memories of everyone who had known them would be altered so that only Harriet remained.

She was to be in an alternate universe with rather limited magic few magical practitioners so she could actually live because apparently being the master of death is a non-refundable thing and she will be alive until the end of death itself. The entity had placed all of her earthly possessions in an enchanted ring, including the hallows, that would basically act as an undetectably extended bag. It had an inbuilt muggle repelling charm that could only be removed if she herself took it off uncoerced. By now Harriet was resigned to her fate and hoped she could have a few normal years to just be at the very least.

-4 years later-

The line inched forward in the small employment office of. She'd been waiting for what seemed like hours trying to get a lead on a summer job. When it was finally her turn, she approached the desk of a bored, tired job placement worker who was on the phone. The woman gestured her closer and indicated that she should sit down. After the woman hung up, Harry handed her some forms and Laura(as the name tag indicated) mechanically began the interview.

"Name, please."

"Kelsey Hayes."

"Age?"

"Seventeen, almost eighteen. My birthday's coming soon."

She stamped the forms. "Are you a high school graduate?"

"Yes. I graduated just a couple of weeks ago. I plan on attending Chemeketa this fall."

"Parents' names?"

"Madison and Joshua Hayes, but my guardians are Sarah and Michael Neilson."

"Guardians?"

Here we go again, Harry thought. Somehow explaining her life never got easier, even in this incarnation. People couldn't seem to leave their curiosity buried around her."Yes. My parents are . . . deceased. They died in a car accident when I was a freshman." So had Kelsey, but that is where Death had inserted Harry into her life. When Harry had woken up in the hospital there were a host of doctors and psychologists to greet her.

Apparently, 'signs of long term abuse (huge ass scars, whip marks, and the word freak carved into her back, along with any magical scars from the various 'adventures' in Hogwarts, and the torture from Voldy and his minions) and malnutrition were abnormal' and 'there would be an investigation of the Hayes family'. Sadly Harry couldn't help the departed Hayes family as every one of their friends' memories of Kelsey were replaced by the obviously abused and malnurtured fourteen-year-old Harry Potter instead. Thankfully with some proper food and sunlight, she had been able to gain some womanly curves and a tan, even if she would be forever 5'2 and always have the scars as she couldn't exactly hide them with them being common knowledge and all. The state awarded her full control of her parents assets, and a rather substantial sum of money to apologize for missing her abuse.

When she looked in the mirror for the first time after she had entered this world she had been startled. Apparently, Death had decided to give his mistress some of his own features, such as the thankfully straight ebony hair with a tint of a deep bloody red at the tips. Her face had an overall more delicate structure, her lips plumper, and her eyes more doe-like. Even her eyelashes had changed, they were now long enough to be mistaken for falsies. Thankfully though she had retained her mother's eyes though they did glow a bit more, showcasing a bit of the power hidden deep beneath them.

The psychologists had been very worried that she didn't remember her life before the crash, and barely reacted to her name being called. Though they thought it was because her mind was repressing her memories. Thankfully she'd gotten used to referring to herself as Kelsey in her head after a while. (from now on Harry will be referring to herself as Kelsey to avoid confusion) Her memories not emerging even in therapy had made them decide she'd adjust well to normal life again, and after being placed in foster care with no incidents she was cleared after a few more months of therapy.

The average looking woman bending over some paperwork and starting to loudly scratch something out on some forms shocked Kelsey from her recollections. She grimaced, wondering what the dead-eyed woman could be writing that was taking so long. Hopefully, there was a job available because she wanted to do something with her summer. "Miss Hayes, do you like animals?"

"Sure. Umm, I know how to feed them . . ." Does an O in care of magical creatures count? Way to talk herself out of being hired. She cleared her throat. "I mean, sure, I love animals." Which was true, Buckbeak had been a great friend. Norbert had taken to her well, and even the dragon she had ridden out of Gringotts on tolerated her after she released its collar and had communicated the location of the Romanian reserve to it via parseltongue. The woman didn't really seem to care about her response, and she handed Kelsey a posting for a job.

NEEDED:

A TEMPORARY WORKER FOR TWO WEEKS ONLY

DUTIES INCLUDE TICKET SALES,

FEEDING THE ANIMALS, AND

CLEANING UP AFTER PERFORMANCES.

Note: Because of the tiger and dogs

need to have carers 24/7, room and board

are provided.

The job was for the Circus Maurizio, a small family-run circus at the fairgrounds. Kelsey remembered getting a coupon for it at the grocery store and had even considered offering to take her foster parents' kids, Rebecca and Samuel, six and four respectively, so that Sarah and Mike could have some time to themselves. "So, do you want the job or what?" the woman asked impatiently. Kelsey nodded and took the form, honestly thought she had been planning on taking a boring temp job for the summer to appear more normal. The bad part about being a witch in a non-magical world is that she can't truly connect with people since she is trying to keep her magic under wraps.

Kelsey had no problem imagining what some of the government or terrorist groups would do if they found out about her magic. Especially without the safety of the magical government to fall back on. She had kept her magic use relatively mundane. Her saving people thing was alive and well though, so sometimes she couldn't help it. There had been a couple of articles in the newspaper about a miraculous occurrence of a child being 'magically pulled out of the street by an unseen force' or some such. It was always brushed off as a happy coincidence or lucky break though.

Money honestly wasn't an issue with the Potter and Black fortunes contained in her ring. She had already decided to pay for a couple of years to get the 'college experience' she'd heard so much about with the life insurance and money the Hayes family had left behind. After that, she might travel the world for a bit, see the sights, settle in a medium-sized city, open a cafe or restaurant, and live out the rest of her days with a cat or maybe a host of animals. She'd use her magic to help her appear to be aging normally to help people in secret as always, and figured it would be a good existence.

So while a normal job wasn't off the table entirely, as this job would only take two weeks, working with the tiger and dogs sounded fun. Besides caring for a tiger couldn't be much more dangerous than caring for a hippogryph. Charley and Hagrid had gotten her hooked on the more 'misunderstood' creatures. Both of their fascination with dragons and Hagrid's penchant for anything XXXXX rated had given her a lot of experience with untamed wildlife. She personally liked the intelligence they exuded and loved interacting with them similarly to how she had with Hedwig. The woman at the till gave her a card with an address and she instructed Kelsey to be there the next day by 6:00 a.m. The worker shouted "Next!" at the line shuffling behind her. Kelsey took the hint and after exiting the building she pulled her diminutive form into Sarah's hybrid and headed home.

Living with Sarah and Mike was okay for the most part. Better than the Dursleys that's for sure. She had nothing to complain about, they gave her a lot more freedom than most other kids' parents, and she thinks they have a healthy respect for one another—well, at least as much as adults can respect a seventeen-year-old anyway. It was a welcome change, though but we were still a family of sorts. Kelsey had helped babysit their kids before and never got into trouble with them.

While the courts had awarded Kelsey her parents estate and then some, and had given her full control of her accounts so as to disabuse the notion any foster family may have had about taking it for themselves, they had not fully emancipated her. It was understandable as she had been only a 14-year-old adolescent at the time. Sarah had been friends with Kelsey's parents and had petitioned the court to have guardianship over her rather than her going into an unknown situation with a potentially hostile foster family.

Kelsey parked the car carefully in the garage and headed into the house to find Sarah attacking a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon. She dropped her bag on a chair and went to get a glass of water. "Making vegan cookies again, I see. What's the special occasion?" They had a sort of deal about food, her room had a retrofitted kitchenette in it along with a mini fridge & freezer. Sarah would give her 100 dollars a week for food as Kelsey was in no way interested in going vegan. She had to do all her own grocery shopping and most of her own cooking, but as long as she didn't let Sarah's kids get into her stuff, she was allowed to do her own thing.

Sarah jammed the wooden spoon into the dense dough several times as if the wooden spoon were an icepick. "It's Sammy's turn to bring treats for his playdate." Kelsey stifled a snigger by coughing. Sarah shrewdly narrowed her eyes at the chuckling girl. "Kelsey Hayes, just because your mother was the best cookie baker in the world doesn't mean I can't make a decent treat." Before Sarah's eyes could finish widening in panic at the mention of Hayes the Mrs., Kelsey cut off any backtracking she would've done with a quip of my own.

"It's not your skills I doubt, it's your ingredients," picking up a jar. "Substitute nut butter, flax, protein powder, and agave. I'm surprised you don't put recycled paper in those things. Where's the chocolate?"

"I use carob sometimes."

"Carob is not chocolate. It tastes like brown chalk. If you're going to make cookies, you should make—"

"I know. I know. Swedish taffy creams or chocolate chip. They're really bad for you Kelsey," she said with a sigh.

"But they taste so good," Sarah mumbled about the injustice of a girl who eats like Kelsey retaining her figure with such little effort. Kelsey took in food like a black hole, and would often order about triple what an average person could actually eat every week.

What most people don't realize and what her guardians would never know is that magic isn't just an endless source that a witch or wizard can call upon. It's like water in a bowl, when you use some, in order to refill the portion you used you must get it from somewhere else. The ambient magic in the world does have some capacity to aid in speeding magical recovery, but where most of it comes from is calories. Burning up energy just like any other muscle. It's why there was a mandatory feast every night in Hogwarts, and why most of the foods had high-calorie counts. It's also why the wizarding population usually doesn't have a problem with obesity, as long as you are frequently using magic, your figure is usually slim if not toned.

Kelsey, however, had always been an anomaly, because of how starved she had been as a child, her magic had actively fed off the only source it could so it could continue to battle the Horcrux in her skull. The blood protection that had been enabled by Lily Potter's sacrifice had been powerful enough to last a good 50 years, give or take. The reason that they tapered off into nothing when she was 17 hadn't been her 'coming of age', as Dumbledore had hinted. No, it broke because it had been sustaining her life force for the first eleven years of her life, and the summer months following.

Her magic had developed a quirk where if she was at 50% core capacity or below it would start actively drawing in the ambient magic around her, but had changed slightly when she had mastered the hallows. Now, her magic would seek Death's unlimited power to sustain its own, therefore giving Death an unintentional warning system to alert him if his daugte-mistress was in danger. He had actually come in like a raging papa bear threatening eternal torture for whatever dared attack his mistress.

Then proceeded to flush as much as a skeletal being could when he realised she had just been using magic to transform a messenger bag into one like Newt Scamander's case, only it contained all sorts of edible plant life, potions ingredients, farm animals, a herd of unicorns, a nest of bowtruckles, a few demiguises, Buckbeak and his mate, a very well behaved acromantula, and Fawkes (the Phoenix had abandoned Hogwarts after the final battle and had shown up on Hedwig's old perch by her bed in Grimmauld the next day) with the addition of the Potter family manor (bigger on the inside) tent by the entrance. The bag also had the nifty muggle feature like Scamander's, which gave her the added benefit of being able to store a change of clothes, some money, her ID, and other essentials conveniently within reach. It was the perfect set up for her travels. Death had even provided two houselves so she wouldn't have to worry about the bags' upkeep in an attempt to divert her attention from his embarrassment.

Kelsey came back into the present from her musings as the motion of Sarah bringing her finger swiftly to her lips to lick off some cookie dough caught her attention. "By the way, I got a job. I'm going to be cleaning up and feeding animals at a circus. It's at the fairgrounds."

"Good for you! That sounds like it will be a great experience," Sarah perked up. "What kind of animals?"

"Dogs mostly, I think there's a tiger too, but I probably won't have to do anything dangerous. I'm sure they have professional tiger people for that stuff. I do have to start really early though, and it was a requirement for the job that I have to live on site for the next few weeks, in case any of the animals need overnight minders."

"Hmmm," Sarah paused contemplatively but she had never been one to worry about the possible danger of situations, instead, seeing only the fun that could be had, so her answer was rather swift, if not absent-minded. "Well, we're just a phone call away if you need us. Would you mind taking the brussels sprouts casserole a la 'recycled newspaper' out of the oven?"

Kelsey nodded and moved to grab the oven mins from the counter. After setting the stinky casserole in the center of the table she helped Sarah pop her cookie sheets in the oven and called the house to dinner. Mike came in, set down his briefcase, and kissed his wife on the cheek. "What's that . . . smell?" he asked suspiciously.

"Brussels sprouts casserole," Sarah answered swiftly, a warning look in her eyes, "And I made cookies for Sammy's playgroup," she announced proudly. "I'll save the best one for you love." Mike shot Kelsey a knowing look that Sarah caught. She snapped her dishtowel at his thigh. "If that's the attitude you are bringing to the table then you get clean-up duty tonight."

"Aw, honey. Don't be mad." He kissed Sarah again and wrapped his arms around her, trying his best to get out of the task. Kelsey took that as her cue to exit. As she snuck out of the kitchen, she heard Sarah giggle. Quietly, Kelsey climbed the stairs to her bedroom. It was small and cozy, with just a simple bed, a mirrored dresser, a desk for her computer and homework, a closet, her casual muggle clothes, a few books, and the kitchenette with the fridge. Done up tastefully in Gryffindor colors, of course.

Kelsey changed into a pair of soft pajamas, pulled her hair tie off, and shook her hair free from its previous braided state. Crawling under her warm duvet, she groaned as she had to reemerge to set the alarm for 4:30 a.m. The Dursley's had forcibly made her into a morning person early on in life. She had just started being able to sleep in like a normal teenager. This was gonna set her back weeks!

As she started drifting to sleep Kelsey wondered what she could possibly be doing with a tiger so early in the morning and how she would survive the three-ring circus that was already her Flopping over on her stomach and stuffing the pillow under her cheek, she drifted off thinking about Mrs. Weasley's cookies.


	2. Chapter 2

Kelsey's alarm startled her out of a deep sleep at 4:30 in the morning. The weather forecast had predicted that it would be warm outside today, but not too hot. Oregon almost never got too hot. An Oregon governor must have passed a law a long, long time ago that said Oregon had to always have moderate temperatures. When she glanced out of her window she saw that the sun still hadn't climbed over the mountain range nearby, but the sky was already brightening, changing the clouds to pink cotton candy in the eastern horizon.

The fragrant scent of wet grass and pine wafted in as she opened her window. Kelsey made her way to the shower and turned the water temperature to a scalding heat before stepping in and letting the hot water cascade down her back to wake her sleep-stiff muscles. What exactly does one wear to a circus job? Not knowing what was appropriate, she tugged on her sports bra, a soft short-sleeved T-shirt, and a pair of worn jeans. Then she slipped her feet into her favorite pair of white adidas tennis shoes, towel-dried her hair, and threw it up in a messy bun with her wand holding it in place. Constant vigilance and all that rot.

Her messenger bag would probably be too small to be considered a go bag for the following two weeks, so she rifled through her closet and selected seven outfits, each to be used twice during the duration of the next two weeks. She grabbed a few pairs of outrageously comfy socks, and five or so pairs ankle socks, fourteen pairs of undergarments, and neatly arranged everything into her old school backpack. Anything else she required during her stay could be found in her messenger bag, which she also placed in her backpack.

After making herself some breakfast and downing a glass of orange juice she put the coffee she'd brewed while eating into a thermos, and, slinging her backpack onto her shoulders, she headed downstairs. Sarah and Mike were already awake and eating breakfast. They woke up insanely early every day to go running. "Morning, quick question, can I get a ride to the fairgrounds?" Mike nodded, mentioning that he would've passed it on his way to work anyways when Sarah also volunteered to take her. Promising to call Sarah every few days, Kelsey headed out the door with Mike.

At the fairgrounds, a big, blue sign posted on the street advertised upcoming events. A large slick banner read-

POLK COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS

welcomes the Circus Maurizio featuring the Maurizio Acrobats and the famous Dhiren!

Kelsey walked quickly along the gravel path toward the main building, she was pretty excited to see a tiger. The central complex looked like a large airplane or military bunker. The paint was cracked and peeling in places, and the windows needed to be washed. A large American flag snapped and rolled in the breeze as the chain it was attached to clinked softly against the metal flagpole. The fairground was an odd cluster of old buildings, a small parking lot, and a dirt path that wound between everything and around the border of the grounds. A pair of long, flatbed trucks were parked alongside several white canvas tents. Circus posters were hung everywhere; there was at least one large poster on every building. Some featured acrobats, some had pictures of jugglers.

Kelsey spent a few minutes looking around to see if there were any elephants, or any posters with elephant themed content, and breathed a sigh of relief when she found none. If there had been elephants here, she probably would have had to muck out its stall, and no way would she do that without the aid of magic, which would risk her exposure in small ways. Opening the door to the main building, she walked inside. The central hub had been converted into a one-ring circus. Tiers of faded red stadium chairs were stacked against the walls. Chatting in the corner was a couple of people. A tall man, who looked like he was in charge, was off to the side, writing on a clipboard and inspecting boxes.

Kelsey made a beeline for him across the black springy floor and introduced herself, "Hi, my name's Kelsey, I'm your two-week temp." He looked her up and down while chewing on something, and then spat on the floor, causing her to suppress a flinch. Her instincts from the war had yet to vanish, not that she wanted them to (constant vigilance and all), but showing those instincts could lead people to the wrong conclusions. Her therapist had determined them to be subconscious reflexes even though she 'didn't remember' the cause of them. Giving the doc even more 'proof' that she was abused.

"Go around back, out those doors, and turn to your left. A black and silver motorhome is parked out there." The man huffed a bit gruffly, but had softened his demeanor so it seemed she hadn't been completely successful in concealing her reaction.

"Thanks!" The tobacco spit disgusted her, but she managed to ignore it and smile at him anyway. Kelsey made her way to the motorhome and knocked on the door.

"Jus' a minute," a man's voice called out, muffled by the steel door. The door opened unexpectedly fast, and she jumped back into a slightly defensive position in her surprise. A man in a dress robe, looking surprisingly like something she would have seen on Dumbledore, towered over her, laughing heartily at her reaction. He was very tall, dwarfing Kelsey's five-foot-three-inch frame, and he had a rotund potbelly.

Black, curly hair covered his scalp, but the hairline ended just a little bit past where it should be. Smiling at her, he reached up to shift his hairpiece back into place. A thin black mustache with both ends waxed to thin points stuck straight out from either side of his upper lip. He also had a tiny square goatee patch on his chin. "Don't be-a intimidated at my appearance," he insisted. Kelsey dropped my eyes and flushed, Merlin's balls, she had faced down Voldemort without blinking and this man took her war honed reaction as her being frightened. That was just insulting but there wasn't much she could do about it at this point.

"I'm not intimidated. It seems that I caught you by surprise, I'm sorry if I woke you." He laughed again, this time a bit more on the deep chuckle side.

"I like de surprises. It keeps me young and a most handsome man." Crow's feet surrounded his twinkling blue eyes, which reminded her of Dumbledore again, giving her shudders. His skin was tan, which showed off his toothy, white smile. He seemed like the kind of man who's always laughing at a private joke. In a booming theatrical voice, with a strong Italian accent, he asked, "And who might you be, young lady?"

"Hi. My name's Kelsey. I was hired to work here for a couple of weeks." He leaned over to grasp her hand. His hand completely enfolded her own as he shook it up and down enthusiastically enough to make her teeth rattle.

"Ah, Fantastico! How propitious! Welcome to the Circus Maurizio! We are a little, how you say, short-handed, and need some assistenza while we are in your magnifica città, eh? Splendido to have you! Let us get a started immediatamente." He glanced over at a cute young blonde girl about fourteen years old who was walking by. "Cathleen, take this giovane donna to Matt and informare him I desideri—that I wish him to work with her together. He's incaricato to teach her today." He turned again to Kelsey. "Nice to meet you, Kelsey. I hope you piacere, ah, enjoy, working here at our piccola tenda di circo!"

"Thanks, it was nice to meet you too." He winked then turned around, went back inside his motor home, and closed the door. Cathleen smiled and led me around the back of the building to the circus sleeping quarters.

"Welcome to the big—er, well, small top! Come on, follow me. You can sleep in my tent if you want. There are a couple of extra cots in there. My mom, my aunt, and I all share a tent. We travel with the circus. My mom's an acrobat and my aunt is, too. Our tent's nice, if you can ignore all the costumes." She led Kelsey into the tent and to a vacant cot. The tent was spacious and all of the cots were behind privacy curtains.

Kelsey stowed her backpack under an empty cot, pulled out her messenger bag, placed it into storage in her ring (she preferred to have all of her magical possessions on her at all times in case shit went down and she wasn't able to go back to the , and looked around. She was right about the costumes. They were hanging everywhere—racks and racks of them. Lace, sparkles, feathers, and spandex covered every corner of the tent. There was also a lit mirrored table with makeup, hairbrushes, pins, and curlers strewn haphazardly over every square inch of the surface.

They then found Matt, who looked to be about fourteen or fifteen. He had brown hair, an average short haircut, brown eyes, and a happy-go-lucky grin. He was trying to set up a ticket stand by himself—and failing miserably. "Hey, Matt," Cathleen said as she grabbed the bottom of the booth to help him, and she was blushing, how cute! Cathleen continued, "Um, this is Kelsey. She's here for two weeks. You're supposed to show her the ropes."

"No problem," he replied. "See ya around, Cath."

"See ya." She smiled and flounced away.

"So, Kelsey, I guess you get to be my sidekick today, huh? Well, you'll love it," he said, teasing her. "I run the tickets and souvenir booths, and I'm the trash collector and stock boy. I basically do everything around here that needs to get done. My dad's the circus animal trainer."

"That's a cool job." in her head she was picturing a normal sized Hagrid roughhousing with dogs and a tiger and in reply she joked, "It's sounds better than a trash collector anyway," Matt laughed,

"Let's get going then," he said moving to the next thing to demo for her. Matt spent the next few hours showing Kelsey how to haul boxes, stock the concession stand, and prepare for the public. When everything was ready, Matt sent Kelsey over to Cathleen to pick out and change into a circus costume—which turned out to be gold, glittery, and something she normally wouldn't have touched with a ten foot pole. One of her main goals in life was to be as invisible and normal as possible, but this was the norm here so she'd try to enjoy it as a new experience no matter how uncomfortable it made her.

Donned in her new sparkly getup, Kelsey walked out to the ticket booth and saw that Matt had put up the price board. He was waiting for her with instructions, the lock box, and a ring of tickets. He had also brought her a sack lunch. "It's showtime! Chow down quick because a couple of buses of summer camp kids are on their way." Before she could even open the bag the camp children descended upon her in a raucous, violent flurry of little bodies. She felt like tiny buffalo were stampeding over her, but didn't mind too much. The adults approached, and I asked them hopefully, "Are you all paying together or separately?" One of the teachers responded,

"Oh, no. We decided to let each child buy a ticket."

"Wonderful, have them queue up and I'll get them taken care of straight away," Kelsey began selling the tickets, and Cathleen soon joined her until they heard the music of the performance begin. Kelsey sat there for about twenty minutes more, but nobody else came in, so she locked the money box and found Matt inside the tent watching the show. The man she'd met earlier that morning was the ringleader. "What's his name?" She whispered to Matt.

"Agostino Maurizio," he replied. "He's the owner of the circus, and the acrobats are all members of his family." Mr. Maurizio brought out the clowns, acrobats, and jugglers, and Kelsey found herself enjoying the performance. Before long, though, Matt elbowed her and motioned to the souvenir stand. Intermission was going to start soon: time to sell balloons. Together they blew up dozens of multicolored balloons with a helium tank. The kids were in a frenzy! They ran to every booth and counted out their coins so they could spend every penny.

Red seemed to be the most popular balloon color. Matt took the money while Kelsey inflated the balloons. She'd never done it before and inevitably popped a few, which startled the kids, but she tried to make the loud pops into a joke by shouting, "Whoopsie!" every time it happened. Pretty soon, they were yelling, "Whoopsie!" along with her. The music began again, and the kids quickly filed back to their seats, clutching their assorted purchases. Several of the kids had bought glow-in-the-dark swords and were waving them around, threatening each other gleefully. As they sat down, Matt's dad came into the ring to do his dog show.

Then the clowns came out again and played various tricks on audience members. One threw a bucket of confetti over the kids. Great! She'd probably get to sweep all that up, definitely going to use some magic to help there. Next, Mr. Maurizio came back out. Dramatic safari hunting music began, and the circus lights extinguished quickly, as if they had been mysteriously blown out. A spotlight found the announcer in the center of the ring. "And now . . . the highlight of our programma! He was taken from the harsh, wild giungla, the jungles, of India and brought here to America.

He is a fierce hunter, a cacciatore bianco, who stalks his prey in the wild, waiting, watching for the right time, and then, he . . . springs into action! Movimento!" While he was talking, men brought out a large, round cage. It was shaped like a giant upside-down bowl with a chain-link fence tunnel attached to one side. They set it in the middle of the ring and clamped locks onto metal rings embedded in cement blocks. Mr. Maurizio continued. He roared into the microphone, and the kids all jumped in their seats. I laughed at Mr. Maurizio's theatrics. He was a good storyteller. He proclaimed,

"This tigre is one of the most pericoloso—dangerous—predators in the entire world! Watch our trainer carefully as he risks his life to bring you . . . Dhiren!" He jerked his head toward the right, and then he ran out of the ring as the spotlight moved over to the canvas flaps at the end of the building. Two men had pulled out an old-fashioned animal wagon. It looked like the kind of wagon on a box of animal crackers. It had a white, curvy gilt-edged top, big black wheels painted white around the edges, and ornamental carved spokes that were painted gold. Black metal bars on both sides of the wagon curved in an arch at the top.

A ramp from the wagon door was attached to the chain-link tunnel, as Matt's dad entered the cage. He set up three stools on the side of the cage opposite from where he stood. He had changed into an impressive golden costume and brandished a short whip. "Release the tiger!" he commanded. The doors opened, and a man standing by the cage prodded the animal. Kelsey drew in her breath swiftly as an enormous white tiger emerged from the cage, trotted down the ramp, and into the chain-link tunnel. A moment later, it was in the big cage with Matt's father. The whip cracked, and the tiger jumped up onto a stool begrudgingly.

To her it was obvious he was disgruntled at the performance. He reminded her of Buckbeak, the intelligence in his eyes screamed he felt the tasks were beneath his majesty, but also seemed resigned to the treatment. Another crack and the gorgeus tiger stood on its hind legs and pawed the air with its claws. The crowd erupted into applause. The tiger leapt from stool to stool while Matt's father kept pulling the stools farther and farther away. It was a magnificent animal. Reaching the stool with its front paws, it shifted its weight, and landed its back feet gracefully.

Turning on the small stool, it rotated its large body with ease, and sat, facing its trainer as if to say, "There, I did your tricks, we done now?" she could almost see one of the hidden eye. The trainer made a sweeping hand gesture and the tiger roared on command, stood on its hind legs, and batted its paws in the air. Matt's father shouted another command, and the tiger jumped down from the stool and ran around the cage in a circle. The trainer circled as well, keeping his eyes centered on the animal. He kept the whip just behind the tiger's tail, encouraging it to keep moving.

Matt's dad gave a signal and a young man passed a large ring though the cage—a hoop. The tiger leapt through the hoop, then quickly turned around and jumped back through again and again. The last thing the trainer did was put his head inside the tiger's mouth. A hush fell on the crowd and Matt stiffened. The tiger opened its mouth impossibly wide. Kelsey saw its sharp teeth and leaned back feeling unconcerned. The tiger's behavior was very apparently non-hostile. Matt's father slowly moved his head closer to the tiger.

The tiger blinked a few times, but it held still, and its powerful jaws gaped even wider. Matt's dad lowered his head all the way inside the animal's mouth, fully within the chomping area of the tiger's maw. Finally, he slowly brought his head out. When his head was completely free and he had moved away, the crowd erupted in cheers, while he bowed several times. Other handlers appeared to help take down the cage. Kelsey's eyes were drawn to the tiger, rather than the trainer, which was now sitting on one of the stools. She saw it moving its tongue around, and scrunching up its face as if it smelled something funny.

It almost looked like it was gagging, like a cat does when it has a hairball. Then it shook itself and sat there calmly. Matt's dad brought his hands up, and the crowd cheered loudly. The whip cracked again, and the tiger jumped off the stool, trotted back through the tunnel, up the ramp, and into its cage. Matt's dad ran out of the ring and stepped behind the canvas curtain. Mr. Maurizio dramatically shouted, "The Great Dhiren! Mille grazie! Thank you so much for coming to see the Circus Maurizio!"

As the tiger's cage was wheeled away before Kelsey, she had a sudden urge to stroke its head and comfort it. She wasn't sure if her magic was reaching out to the animal, but for some reason it felt like she could sense its mood. It seemed melancholy; at that exact moment, a soft breeze wrapped around her carrying the scent of night blooming jasmine and sandalwood with a citrus tang, not orange, mango maybe? It completely overwhelmed the strong aroma of hot buttered popcorn and cotton candy.

Her heart rate spiked as goosebumps shot down her arms. As quickly as it came, the lovely scent disappeared and she felt an inexplicable hole in the pit of her stomach. The lights came up and the kids started stampeding out of the arena. Kelsey's brain was still slightly foggy. Slowly, she got up and turned around to stare at the curtain where the tiger had disappeared. A faint trace of sandalwood and an unsettled feeling lingered.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for this chapter being sooo late. I'm in the process of moving to another state, so the update schedule may be erratic.

Pupstarstar: Yes, she does, but I'll leave you to guess what it is.

The kids rushed out of the building in a screaming mob. A bus started up in the parking lot. As it noisily shook itself awake rumbling, hissing, and puffing air out of its exhaust pipe, Matt stood up and stretched. "Ready for the real work now?" Kelsey, unfazed as she had been faced with much worse than a little clean up in her life,

"Sure, bring it on." He started cleaning the debris off the seats, as Kelsey followed behind to push them against the wall, subtly using magic to make all the debris form a uniform pile against the wall, as if being drawn to the wall by a magnet. When that was done, Matt handed her a broom. "We've got to get the whole area swept up, pack everything into the boxes, and then store them all away again. You get started, and I'll turn in the money boxes to Mr. Maurizio."

Kelsey nodded and made an affirming noise in the back of her throat as she started moving slowly across the floor, pushing a broom in front of her. She wound forward and back, like a swimmer doing laps until Matt had disappeared out of her line of sight. Giving a surreptitious glance around the space she directed her magic to swiftly levitate all the rubbish off the floor and into the readied garbage bags, afterward waving her hand in a small flourish causing the tops of the garbage bags to tie themselves off.

While waiting for Matt to return to direct her to her next task her mind wandered back to the acts she had seen. She was pretty sure she liked the dogs the best, for the reminder of Sirius (they were just as big as his animagus form had been), but there was something compelling about the tiger. Her thoughts kept drifting back to the big cat, and the spidey-sense her magic was giving her.

When Matt came back he was surprised that all the trash had been handled, and helped Kelsey bring it out to the large dumpsters around the back of the complex. Then they spent a good hour packing up boxes and hauling them back to storage. When this was done, Matt told her that she could have an hour or two off until it was time to join the troupe for dinner. Kelsey made her way back to the tent to change into a set of clothes she was much more comfortable wearing, wiggled onto a slightly uncomfortable place on her cot before hitting it with heavy duty cushioning and warming charms.

Satisfied she curled up on her side, set an alarm with her wand that would alert her when dinner was 15 minutes out and closed her eyes. While trying to get sleepy enough to settle into a light nap she let her mind wander. Her thoughts still seemed to be revolving around the tiger, '_Maybe I should add veterinary skills to my list along with the plan to be trained in surgical procedure in college,'_ her wand then alerted her that it was almost time for dinner. The delectable aroma coming from the big building made her mouth water.

Inside, Matt was setting up chairs around eight long folding tables. One of the tables was set up with Italian takeout. It looked fantastic. Kelsey offered to help, but Matt brushed her aside. "You worked hard today, Kelsey. Relax, I got this," he said. Cathleen waved her over to a set of empty seats.

"Come sit by me. We can't start eating until Mr. Maurizio comes in to make the evening announcements." Sure enough, the moment everyone was seated, Mr. Maurizio strolled dramatically into the building.

"Favoloso performance, everyone! And a most eccellente job to our newest salesperson, eh? Tonight is a celebration! Mangiate. Fill your plates, mia famiglia!" seemed to her that he played the part all the time, not just for the show. Kelsey turned to whisper in Cathleen's ear,

"I guess that means we did a good job, right?"

"Yep. Let's eat!" Kelsey waited in line with Cathleen, picked up a paper plate, and filled it with Italian green salad, a big scoop of homemade spaghetti, a piece of parmesan chicken, and, not having enough room on her plate, popped a warm breadstick into her mouth, grabbed a bottle of water, and sat down. Kelsey couldn't help but notice the large chocolate cheesecake for dessert, her eyes kept wandering over to it even as she devoured the enormous pile of food in front of her.

People were looking at her like she had a second head for going through all that food, and by the time her second slice of cheesecake had been devoured, they were just staring. Kelsey knew it looked odd that a small girl like her could put so much away, but seriously her magic was constantly being used to heal any injuries she obtained, strengthen her body, and shield her, of course, it would take a few extra calories. When the staring got too pronounced she made an awkward joke about a hollow leg and told them she had an overactive metabolism.

After dinner, Kelsey moved to a quiet corner of the building and called to check in with Sarah and Mike. When she hung up, she approached Matt, who was putting all the leftovers into the fridge. "I didn't see your dad at the table. Doesn't he eat?"

"I took him a plate. He was busy with the tiger."

"How long has your dad been working with the tiger?" Kelsey asked, eager to learn more about the more-intelligent-than-normal cat. "According to the job description, I'm supposed to help out with the tiger somehow." Matt shoved aside a half-empty bottle of orange juice, wedged a box of takeout food next to it, and shut the refrigerator.

"For the past five years or so. Mr. Maurizio purchased the tiger from another circus, and they bought it from another circus before that. The tiger's history wasn't well documented. Dad says the tiger will perform only the standard tricks and refuses to learn anything new, but the good news is that it's never given him a problem. It's a very quiet, almost docile beast, as far as tigers go."

"Do I really get to feed it?"

"Don't worry. It's not that hard as long as you avoid the big teeth," Matt joked. Kelsey wasn't worried but Mike continued on anyway, "I'm kidding. You'll just be bringing the tiger's food back and forth from building to building. See my dad tomorrow. He'll give you all the info you need."

"Thanks, Matt!" There was about an hour left of light outside, but Kelsey had to get up early again so she figured she'd settle into bed for the night. After showering, brushing her teeth, and changing into a warm flannel pair of pj's and slippers, she hurried back to her tent and got cozy under her big fluffy blanket. Reading a chapter in the new book she'd bought made her drowsy, so she quickly fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning after breakfast, Kelsey hurried to the kennel and found Matt's dad playing with the dogs. He looked a lot like an adult version of Matt, with the same brown hair and brown eyes. He turned to her as she approached and said, "Hello. It's Kelsey, right? I understand you'll be my assistant today."

"Yes, sir." He shook my hand warmly and smiled.

"Call me Andrew or Mr. Davis, if you prefer something more formal. The first thing we need to do is take these feisty little critters for a walk around the grounds."

"Sounds easy enough." He laughed.

"We'll see." Mr. Davis gave Kelsey enough leashes to hook to five dogs' collars. The dogs were an interesting assortment of mutts including a beagle, a greyhound mix, bulldog, a Great Dane, and a little black poodle. The animals bounced around everywhere, getting the leashes all twisted around each other—and me. Mr. Davis leaned over to help and then we started off. It was a beautiful morning.

The woods were fragrant, and the dogs were very happy, jumping about and pulling me in every direction except the one she wanted to go. They kicked up rustling pine needles and leaves and exposed bare brown soil as they sniffed every square inch of the terrain. As she unwound a dog from a tree she asked Mr. Davis, "Do you mind if I ask you some questions about your tiger?"

"Not at all. Ask away."

"Matt said that you guys didn't know much about the history of your tiger. Where did you get him from?" Matt's dad rubbed a hand over the stubble on his chin and said,

"Dhiren came to us when Mr. Maurizio purchased it from another small circus. He wanted to liven up the acts. He figured that I worked well with other animals, so why not tigers. We were very naïve. It usually requires extensive training to work with the big cats. Mr. Maurizio was insistent that I try and, fortunately for me, our tiger is very tractable.

I was extremely unprepared to take on an animal of that size though I stayed and traveled with the other circus for a while. Their trainer taught me how to handle a tiger, and I learned how to care for it. I'm not sure I could have dealt with any of the other cats they were selling. "They tried to get me interested in one of their very aggressive Siberians but I quickly realized that she wasn't for us. I negotiated for the white cat instead. The white was more even-tempered and seemed to like working with me. To tell you the truth, our tiger seems bored with me most of the time."

Kelsy pondered this information as they silently walked down the trail for a while. Untangling the dogs from another tree she asked, "Do white tigers come from India? I thought they came from Siberia." Mr. Davis smiled.

"Many people think they're from Russia because the white coat blends in with the snow, but Siberian tigers are larger and orange. Our cat is a Bengal or Indian tiger." He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment and asked, "Are you ready to help me with the tiger today? The cages have safety latches, and I will be supervising you at all times." Kelsey smiled, remembering the sweet scent of jasmine at the end of the tiger's performance.

One of the dogs ran around her legs, trapping her and breaking her out of her reverie for a moment. "I would really enjoy that, thanks!" After finishing our walk, we put the dogs back in the kennel and fed them. Mr. Davis filled the dogs' trough with water from a green hose. He looked over his shoulder and said,

"You know, tigers could be completely wiped out in the next ten years. India has already passed several laws against killing them. Poachers and villagers are mostly responsible. Tigers generally avoid humans, but they are responsible for many deaths in India every year and sometimes people take matters into their own hands." Then, Mr. Davis gestured that Kelsey should follow him. They walked around the corner of the building to a large barn that was painted white with blue trim. He opened the wide doors for and the bright sun filtered in and warming the area, spotlighting some dust particles that flew around as Mr. Davis and Kelsey walked past.

She was surprised at how much light shone in the two-level building despite there being only two high windows. Wide beams rose high overhead and arched across the ceiling; the walls were lined with empty stalls that held bales of hay stacked up to the ceiling. Kelsey followed Davis as he approached the beautiful animal wagon that had been a part of the performance yesterday. He picked up a large jug of liquid vitamins and said, "Kelsey, meet Dhiren. Come here, I want to show you something." We approached the cage. The tiger, who had been dozing, lifted its head and watched her curiously with bright blue eyes.

Those eyes, they were mesmerizing. They seemed to be staring right into her, almost as if the tiger was examining her soul. A wave of loneliness washed through Kelsey, but she struggled to lock it back into the tiny part of her where she kept such emotions. She swallowed thickly and broke eye contact. Mr. Davis pulled a lever on the side of the cage. A panel slid down, separating the side of the cage near the door from Dhiren. Mr. Davis opened the cage door, filled the tiger's water dish, added about a quarter cup of liquid vitamin, and closed and locked the door. Then, he pushed the lever to raise the panel in the cage again.

"I'm going to do some paperwork. I want you to get the tiger's breakfast," Mr. Davis instructed. "Head back to the main building and go back behind the boxes. You'll see a large refrigerator there. Take this red wagon with you to carry the meat from the fridge back here. Then take another package out of the freezer and put it into the fridge to thaw. When you return, put the food into Dhiren's cage just like I did with the vitamins. Be sure to close the safety panel first. Can you manage that?" Kelsey grabbed the wagon handle.

"No problem," was said over her shoulder as she headed back to the door. She found the meat quickly and returned in a few minutes, pulled the lever, dished up the raw meat into a wide bowl, and slid it carefully into the cage. She kept an eye on the tiger, but it just sat there watching her. "Mr. Davis, is that a female or a male tiger?" A noise came from the cage, a deep rumble from the tiger's chest. Kelsey turned to look at the tiger, "What are you growling at me for?" her grumble caused Matt's dad to laugh.

"Ah, you've offended him. He's very sensitive, you know. In answer to your question, he is a male." After the tiger ate, Mr. Davis suggested Kelsey watch the tiger practice his performance. They closed the barn doors and slid the wooden beam down to lock them in place just to make sure the tiger couldn't escape. Then Kelsey scaled the ladder to the loft, pulling it up with her as she reached the top, to watch from above. If anything went wrong, Mr. Davis had instructed her to climb out the window and return with Mr. Maurizio, but she doubted she'd have to. Matt's father approached the cage, opened the door, and called Dhiren out.

The cat looked at him and then put his head back on his paws, still sleepy. Mr. Davis called again. "Come!" The tiger's mouth opened in a giant yawn and his jaws gaped wide. Kelsey's appreciation for the cat rose looking at the huge teeth. He stood up and stretched his front legs and then his back legs one at a time. Kelsey chuckled to herself for mentally comparing this large predator with a sleepy housecat. The tiger turned around and trotted down the ramp and out of the cage. Mr. Davis set up a stool and cracked the whip, instructing Dhiren to jump up onto the stool. He got the hoop and had the tiger practice jumping in and out of it for several minutes. He leaped back and forth, running through the various activities with ease. His movements were effortless. I could see the sinewy muscles moving under his white and black striped fur as he went through the paces. Mr. Davis seemed to be a good trainer, but there were a couple of times that she noticed the tiger could have taken advantage of him— but didn't.

Once, Mr. Davis's face was very close to the tiger's extended claws, and it would have been very easy for the tiger to take a swipe, but instead, he moved his paw out of the way. Another time, she could have sworn Mr. Davis had stepped on his tail, but again, he just growled softly and moved his tail aside. It was very strange, and Kelsey found herself even more fascinated by the beautiful animal, wondering what it would feel like to touch him. Mr. Davis was sweating in the stuffy barn. He encouraged the tiger to return to the stool, and then placed three other stools nearby and had him practice jumping from one to the other. Finishing up, he led the cat back to its cage, gave him a special jerky treat, and motioned for me to come down.

"Kelsey, you'd better head on over to the main building and help Matt get ready for the show. We have a bunch of senior citizens coming in today from a local center," she climbed down the ladder and hopped off after reaching the fifth to the bottom rung.

"Would it be okay if I bring my journal here to draw sometimes? I want to draw the tiger's picture in it."

"That's fine. Just don't get too close." With signing off on her request Kelsey hurried happily out the building, waved at him, and shouted, "Thanks for letting me watch you. It was really exciting!" She rushed back to help Matt just as the first bus pulled into the parking lot. It was completely the opposite from the day before. First, the woman in charge bought all the tickets at once, which made Kelsey's job much easier, and then all the patrons shuffled slowly into the ring, found their seats, and promptly fell asleep. How could they sleep through all the noise? When intermission came, there wasn't much to do.

Half of the attendees were still asleep, and the other half were in line for the restroom. Nobody really bought anything. After the show, she and Matt cleaned up quickly, which gave her a few hours to herself. Kelsey ran back to her cot, pulled out a journal, a pen, and pencil, and her fluffy blanket and walked over to the barn. She pulled open the heavy door and turned on the lights. Strolling toward the tiger's cage, she found him resting comfortably with his head on his paws. Two bales of hay made a perfect chair with a backrest; she burritoed herself in her blanket as she opened the drawing journal, beginning to sketch. She'd taken a couple of art classes in high school and was fairly decent at drawing when she had a model to look at.

Kelsey raised the pencil from the page and glanced at the subject of her drawing. She was slightly startled to realize that the tiger was looking right at her—not like he wanted to eat her, it was more like . . . he was trying to convey something with his eyes. "Hey, Mister. What are you looking at?" Kelsey grinned continuing to draw unperturbed. The tiger's round eyes were wide-set and a brilliant blue. He had long, black eyelashes and a pink nose. His fur was a soft, creamy white with black stripes radiating away from his forehead and cheeks, all the way down to the tail.

The short, furry ears were tilted toward Kelsey, while the left one occasionally flicked towards sounds coming from outside the barn, his head was back resting lazily on his paws. As he watched her, his tail flicked back and forth leisurely. She spent a lot of time trying to get the pattern of stripes right because Mr. Davis had told her that no two tigers have the same stripes. He said that their stripes were as distinctive as human fingerprints, though as she concentrated on them she chatted at him idly, "Dhiren is a pretty name for a tiger, but it is rather long. Maybe Ren for short? Hope that's alright with you. So how's your day been? Did you enjoy your breakfast? You know, you have a very handsome face, for something that could eat me."

After a quiet pause with the only sounds being the scratch of her pencil and the deep rhythmic breathing of the large animal, she asked, "Do you like being a circus tiger? I can't imagine it's a very exciting life for you, being stuck in that cage all the time. I know I didn't like it very much." Kelsey fell quiet for a while thinking about her time in the Dursley's cupboard and bit her lip to stop that train of thought. As she shaded in the stripes of his face, she noticed his head was no longer resting on his paws, and his tail was swishing in a very agitated fashion.

"Do you like poetry? I could bring in a book of poems and read to you some time. I think I have one about cats you might like." Kelsey looked up from her drawing and was startled to see that the tiger had moved. He was sitting up, his head bent down toward her, and he was staring at her steadily with wide eyes. Kelsey started to feel a little bit nervous. She knew a large cat staring at you with great intensity can't be a good thing. Right then, Matt's dad strolled into the building. The tiger swiftly slumped down onto its side but kept his face turned toward her, watching her with those deep blue eyes.

"Hey, kid, how're you doing?"

"I'm fine, though I do have a question. Doesn't he ever get lonely by himself? Haven't you tried to, you know, find him a girl tiger?" Mr. Davis laughed hard at that.

"Not for him, no, this one likes to be alone. The other circus said they tried to produce offspring by breeding him with a white female in heat at the zoo, but he wouldn't have it. He stopped eating, so they pulled him out of there. I guess he prefers bachelorhood."

"Oh. Well, I'd better get back to Matt and help him out with the dinner preparations." Kelsey closed her journal and gathered her things. As she strolled back to the main building, her thoughts were drawn back to the tiger. All alone with no girl tiger and no tiger cubs. No deer to hunt and stuck in captivity, no way for anything to live. After dinner, she helped Matt's dad walk the dogs again and got settled in for the night. Kelsey put her hands under her head and stared at the tent ceiling, and, after tossing and turning for about twenty minutes, decided to go visit the barn again.

She kept all the lights off in the building except the one near the cage and went back to the hay bale with her blanket. Because she was feeling restless, she'd brought a paperback copy of Romeo and Juliet. "Hey, Ren. Would you like me to read to you for a while? Now Romeo and Juliet don't have any tigers in their story, but Romeo does climb a balcony, so you just picture yourself climbing a tree, okay? Wait a second. Let me create a proper setting." The moon was full so she turned off the light and decided the moonlight coming through the two high windows brightened the barn sufficiently to read by.

The tiger's tail thumped the wooden base of the wagon. Kelsey turned on her side, made a pillow of sorts from the hay, and started reading aloud. She could just make out his profile and see his eyes shining in the shadowy light. She started getting tired and sighed, she didn't really feel the need to return to her cot. She'd slept in worse places after all. She mumbled an apology to the tiger and promised to finish tomorrow. Kelsey closed my eyes and didn't wake up until the next morning.

From that moment on, she spent all free time in the barn with the tiger. He seemed to like her being there enough and always perked his ears up when she started reading to him. Kelsey bugged Matt's dad with question after question about tigers until she was sure he felt like avoiding her. He appreciated the work she did though. Every day, she got up early to take care of the tiger and the dogs, and every afternoon she wandered in to sit near Ren's cage and draw in her journal. In the evenings, she would bring her blanket and a book to read. Sometimes, she'd pick out a poem and read it out loud. Other times, she just talked to him about inane inconsequential things or the stupidity of the people or policies in the world.

About a week after she had started working there, Matt and Kelsey were watching one of the shows as usual. When it was time for Ren to perform, he seemed to act differently. After trotting down the tunnel and entering the cage, he ran around in circles and paced back and forth several times. He kept looking out at the audience as if he was searching for something. Finally, he froze as still as a statue and stared right at Kelsey. His tiger eyes locked with her luminescent emerald ones, and she couldn't turn her head away. She heard the whip crack several times, but the tiger stayed focused on her. Matt elbowed her, and she broke eye contact.

"That's really strange," Matt said.

"What's wrong? Is something going on? Why is he staring at us?" He shrugged.

"It's never happened before. I don't know." Ren finally turned away from them and began his normal routine. After the show was over and she had finished cleaning up, she went to visit Ren, who was pacing in his cage. When he saw her, he sat down, settled himself, and placed his head on his paws. Kelsey walked up to the cage. "Hey, Ren. What's going on with you today, Mister? I'm worried about you. I hope you aren't getting sick or something." He rested quietly, but kept his eyes on her and followed her movements.

Glancing around to make sure nobody was near she twitched her fingers discretely and cast a diagnostic charm on him. It came back a little fuzzy and obscured, but nothing that indicated that the tiger was sick. Kelsey approached the cage slowly. She felt drawn to the animal and couldn't seem to block out a very strong compulsion to be around him. It was almost a tangible pull, different but similar to the familiar bond she had formed with Hedwig when she was eleven. She knew it was risky, but she wasn't scared, her magic would protect her in case something went wrong. Somehow, though, she knew that he wouldn't hurt her, like Buckbeak after she had bowed to him.

Her heart began beating quickly in her ribcage. She took another step closer to the cage and stood there for a moment, gauging his reaction. Ren wasn't moving at all. He just continued to look at her calmly with his vivid blue eyes. Kelsey slowly reached her hand out toward the cage, stretching just her fingertips to his paw. She made contact and touched his soft, white fur with the tips of her fingers. He exhaled a deep sigh, but other than that he didn't move. Taking that as an acceptance of her presence, she placed her whole hand on top of his paw, petting it, and traced one of his stripes with her finger.

The next thing I knew, his head moved toward her hand. Before she could pull her hand out of the cage, he licked it. It tickled. She tentatively held out her hand near the tiger's nose, and his pink tongue darted out between the bars to lick her hand again. He licked a few more times before nuzzling her hand and scent marking her arm like a tame housecat. She reluctantly pulled her hand out of the cage heading over to the sink and washed the tiger saliva off before Matt's dad came in and banned her from coming back due to her 'reckless behavior'.

Returning to her favorite spot by the hay bale, she said, "Thanks for not eating me." He huffed quietly in response. "What would you like to listen to today, hmm? How about that cat poem I promised you?" Kelsey reached down, opened the poetry book, and found the right page. "Okay, here goes.

'_I AM THE CAT In Egypt, they worshiped me. I am the Cat. Because I bend not to the will of man. They call me a mystery. When I catch and play with a mouse, they call me cruel. Yet they take animals to keep in parks and zoos, that they may gape at them. They think all animals are made for their pleasure, to be their slaves. While I kill only for my needs, they kill for pleasure, power, and gold, and pretend to a superiority! Why should I love them? I, the Cat, whose ancestors proudly trod the jungle, not one ever tamed by man. _

_Ah, do they know that the same immortal hand that gave them breath, gave breath to me? But I alone am free I am THE CAT.' _

Kelsey closed my book and gazed reflectively at the tiger. She imagined him proud and noble, racing through the jungle on a hunt. She suddenly felt very, very unhappy about his situation. It can't be a good life, performing in a circus, even if you have a good trainer. A tiger isn't a dog or a cat to be somebody's pet. He should be free in the wild. I stood up and walked back over to the tiger. Hesitantly, she reached her hand into his cage to pat his paw again. Immediately, his tongue flew out to lick my hand. She laughed at first and then sobered.

Slowly, Kelsey moved her hand up to his cheek and stroked the soft fur, then scratched him behind his ear. A deep vibration rumbled in his throat, and she realized he was purring. I grinned and scratched his ear some more. "Like that, do you?" She pulled my hand out of the cage, slowly again, and watched him for a minute, deliberating on what had happened. He had an almost human expression of melancholy on his face. Kelsey looked into those big blue eyes and whispered, "I wish you were free."


End file.
